Olympia still working on deal to sell Joe Louis Arena
seats, fixtures

Most permanent arena fixtures, such as the seats, are city property. Joe Louis falls under the Detroit Building Authority, specifically the authority's Municipal Parking Department.

If you want to buy your seat from Joe Louis Arena or the Palace of Auburn Hills after the Red Wings and Pistons leave for their new home, sit tight.

Nearly six months after Crain's first reported that the Red Wings want to see equipment and fixtures at city-owned Joe Louis auctioned to the public — including the highly sought original seats — nothing has happened.

Why? Olympia Development, which runs the Red Wings' business operations, says it's still in the process of inventorying everything inside the arena, and it doesn't expect to formalize a deal with the city until this summer. Olympia and the team also have been busy finishing the new $635 million arena scheduled to open in September, a spokeswoman said.

As for the Palace of Auburn Hills, there are no plans to sell anything because the building's fate hasn't been decided. Joe Louis Arena, on the other hand, is set to be demolished and the waterfront land used for commercial development.

Olympia since last year has been cataloging everything inside Joe Louis, which the city built for $57 million and opened in 1979. The inventory is to determine what will be moved to the new arena, what must be replaced, what can be sold, what can be donated, and what belongs to the city. The new arena is expected to include heritage displays from both teams.

Any sale is expected to use a third-party auction service that specializes in such work.

"We're still doing inventory. Then we're working on a deal with the city. Then we'd finalize a decision on a third party. Then we'd decide on who leads and revenue sharing," said Jennifer Arapoff, director of marketing and communications at Olympia Entertainment. She added that third-party vendors are being vetted for a possible auction, which could occur near the time Little Caesars Arena opens.

While the split sale proceeds hasn't yet been negotiated with the city, some or call of the money could be earmarked for charities, Arapoff said, and some fixtures could simply be donated.

Most permanent arena fixtures, such as the seats, are city property. Joe Louis falls under the Detroit Building Authority, specifically the authority's Municipal Parking Department. The mayor's office was unaware of Olympia's preliminary talks with the city about an auction, so it declined to comment until it has more information.

Seats are of special interest because there is an active market for them among sports fans, nostalgia buffs, sports bars, and longtime season ticket holders who want their specific chair. Seats from demolished sports venues can sell for a few hundred dollars into the thousands.

"Anything of that vintage, because it's the Red Wings, they're going to have a successful sale," said vintage seat broker Sean Walsh in an October conversation with Crain's.

A lifelong Red Wings fan who has owned Cleveland-based vintage sports chair seller Original Stadium Seats since 1987, Walsh said he has a waiting list of people who want Joe Louis Arena seats. Fans also are interested in everything from arena signs to fixtures.

Joe Louis Arena saw the Red Wings win four Stanley Cups and make the playoffs for 25 consecutive seasons — a streak likely to end this year.

The Palace, which saw the Pistons win three NBA championships after it opened in 1988, faces an unknown future, meaning it's too soon to talk about the sale of any fixtures. Like the Red Wings, the team will determine what it wants to move to Little Caesars Arena and to a new team headquarters and practice facility that it will open in 2018 in New Center.

"Nothing has been determined on the future of the Palace other than we won't be playing basketball (there) next year," Pistons spokesman Kevin Grigg said via email.

The Pistons began a three-year, $6 million replacement of all of the Palace's 20,000 seats in 2015, under a deal with Grand Rapids-based Irwin Seating Co. The third phase of the seating project, which included replacing more than 10,000 upper bowl seats this summer, is currently on hold given the announcement of the Pistons' move downtown. The venue's lower level seats, mostly original to the Palace, were salvaged and recycled by Irwin for whatever useful materials they could provide. "

As part of the deal to bring the Pistons downtown, the entertainment businesses of both teams will become a joint venture overseeing their stable of theaters and concert venues. No details about that effort have been disclosed, but it's theoretically possible the Palace could continue its life as an alternative event venue for Little Caesars Arena when that venue is booked.

The plan for Joe Louis is to eventually demolish it and redevelop the land for commercial use, an arrangement crafted under the city's municipal bankruptcy settlement in 2014. The state has earmarked up to $6 million to pay to raze the building.

There isn't an end date yet for Joe Louis Arena to close, Arapoff said. There are concerts scheduled through May, and a few more are likely to be added, she said, but the building will wind down most of its operations by the time Little Caesars Arena opens in September. The Stanley Cup playoffs end in mid-June, although it's unlikely the Red Wings will be participating — they're in serious jeopardy of seeing their streak of 25 consecutive playoffs seasons end this year.

Ford Motor Co. has used Joe Louis Arena for events during the North American International Auto Show that's held each January at adjacent Cobo Center, and it's not been determined if it the automaker will opt to use the arena one final time next January.

The last local sale of a venue's fixtures was in 2014: The private owner of the Pontiac Silverdome — the Detroit Lions' home from 1975-2001 — auctioned fixtures from the crumbling, vacant stadium. Some of the venue's 82,000 seats sold for $100 to $385. The auction generated about $500,000 from the sale of fixtures and equipment, including urinals, signs and copper wiring.

One of the urinals bought at auction was later resold, after being signed by Lions Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders, on eBay for $3,000 — after 45 bids.